King Crab Essay

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The purpose of my Alaskan King Crab essay is to acknowledge readers about the different types of king crabs and their backgrounds. King crabs pop up a lot in out country and everyone should be informed of their personal details. These crabs are commonly described by their physical appearance, ecosystem, and history. If king crabs are continually being fished throughout the years then they will start to decrease in population because of the amounts being taken. There are three types of the Alaskan King Crabs. The red king crab (Paralithodes camtschaticus) is the most common of the king crabs. The shell either has a bright red or dark reddish brownish color. The blue king crab (Paralithodes platypus) is quite similar to the red king crab besides …show more content…

The first is climate. Red, blue, and golden crabs are all sensitive to water temperature. They like to live in colder waters, but not below freezing. King crabs like the warmer types of cold waters. They can be found in arctic waters that are cool enough to keep icebergs from forming. Around Alaska and Russia are where these crabs are most likely to be found. They also prefer the more sand and mud substrates. Red and blue crabs can be found nearshore during the winter and by spring because this is the perfect time for embryo hatching. Red and blue king crabs show that they go from nearshore to offshore (from shallow to deep), and back. They take annual migrations. The golden king crabs have a very set pattern for migration. They do as the other crabs by going back to shore around winter or spring for hatching, but then go back to the deep-water feeding …show more content…

These females go through an average of 29 days to release these larvae. The blue king crab female will spawn every 2 years, molt, mate, then release about 150,000 eggs. The golden king crab female hold about 10,000 to 30,000 every 20 months. King crabs are often fished or caught for food. King crab fishing crews have specific members that play important roles during the time of the catch. These crabs are caught during the winter months of October through January. "Herring and cod are used as bait to get the grabs into these 700-800 pound steel square pots." (King Crab 101, 1) These pots are covered in nylon webbing and are left under the water for about a day or two then brought back up to the boat. You would think the rate of female population wouldn't escalade as fast as the male population because they are not allowed to be kept and sold to producers, but they drop just as fast. Red and blue king crab populations were dropping to historic levels. In the earlier years, fishery was getting out of hand. The red king crab became one of the most wanted species by fisheries. Their population has been very low statewide since 1983 It got to the point where the fishery crashed and the top four producing areas were closed to red king crab fishing. After this had happened, fisherman had attacked or targeted the golden king crab. After a 15 year time period, 112 million pounds of golden king crabs were harvested.

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